Surf and turf, Japanese Style
Beef and seafood are two I strongly associate with Japan. Both have a quality that is on another level compared with products from anywhere else that I have been. While there is seafood at can rival that found in Japan, no one has ever been able to match the beef. It has never been replicated.
When I had the opportunity to some surf and turf in Japan I jumped at the chance. The place I went to was located in Akihabara. This surprised me at first because I have never come to associate Akihabara with good food. However, I was assured that this the place we were going was famous for preparing beef in a western style so my fears were partially assuaged.
They had various steaks as well as beef qualities as options. All beef was Japanese with high prices for higher grades. My eyes glazed over the pages as I saw picture after delicious picture of steaks. I locked onto one page that contained a piece of beef loin and a giant shrimp. This is the one I wanted, price was ¥6300, no big deal it was beef and I had to have it.
When it came to our table the meat and shrimp were on a heavy cast iron hot plate, the fat still sizzling from the residual heat. The portion of beef was puny compared to the cut you get at an American steak house. However, what it lacked on size it made up for in flavor. There was a nice beef flavor and richness that is hard to match. The marbling of the beef made it melt in your mouth. This combination made every bite a bit of heaven in your mouth and I wish for a bigger piece so I could eat more and continue to savor it. The shrimp was comparable in size to a lobster. It seemed like it was twice cooked, lightly boiled sliced in half and mayonnaise placed on top then grilled. The mayo gave it a tangy taste and infused it with an additional fattiness that one would normally get with melted butter. There was a lot of mayo for one which over powered the shrimp. I wasn't able to experience the sweetness of the seafood as much as I would have liked. However, the combination of the richness and tangyness of the mayo, with the sweetness of the shrimp went well together and it was a good combination. Overall the meal was fantastic and for the price I though was pretty reasonable. I would have liked a bigger piece of meat or even one from Matsuzaka, but that definitely would have made the cost of the meal exorbitantly high.
Monk’s Kettle
For anyone that knows me, I'm not much of a beer person. If I had a choice I would rather be drinking a nice French Bordeaux. However, the Monk's Kettle stands out as a primer location for beer in the city, and is one place I wouldn't mind having a bottle of suds. Monk's Kettle is one of a growing number of gastropubs in the city that combines quality food and good beer together to form what an ideal bar should be like, a place to enjoy to company of others while sharing a good meal and drink.
Although Monk's offers a selection of wines, once you take a look at the dizzing 5 page beer list, you'll know your in a beer lovers bar. They offer 24 draft beers and a staggering 150 specialty bottles running the gambit of styles from light golden lagers to deep dark stouts. These beers come from the four corners of the Earth, and while you'll see beer mainly from Europe and America here there is a good selection of Asian beers all from craft breweries. People looking for a common beer need not apply. Also prices aren't that cheap either, most bottled beer is over $10 per bottle, with some costing more than a bottle of wine in a nice restaurant.
The food here isn't a slouch either. They offer a small selection of appetizers, burgers, entrees that will satisfy the hunger. The menu also suggests beer pairings that will go well with each dish. On one visit there my group sampled a couple of their appetizers. A charcuterie plate consisting of 4 different cured meats, a macaroni and cheese with lobster and bacon, and a bowl of fries with 3 different dipping sauces. All the dishes were satisfying and tasty. The standout of the evening for me was the special mac and cheese they offered. The combination of the lobster and bacon with the cheese sauce was good and surprised most of guest I was with.
Overall the Monk's kettle is a great place to get a good glass of beer and some great food. Although this place hasn't changed my love of wine, it has definitely improved my view of beer. It is has made a place of my list of great places to eat in the Mission.
Tasty fries. They came with a flavored ketchup, curry aoli, and mayo. Hits the spot when drinking.
The charcuterie plate consisted of duck prosciutto, regular prosciutto, salami, and sasuage.
The lobster-bacon mac and cheese with just great.
Bread in Japan
Like all other asian countries, Japan is a land of rice. If you pass through the country side your bound more fields of rice then of wheat, or perhaps any other crop. However, Japanese do love their bread. It is one of the most common items you'd find at a combini. If you take a stroll through Ginza and end up in one of the massive department stores like my personal favorite, Mitsukoshi, and travel down to the basement food floors you're bound to see a European bakery's outpost.
Living in San Francisco most of the time, we have our fair share of good bakeries and the quality is excellent. I do think that we do take ourselves too seriously here sometimes, our quality is great, but some of the bakeries in Tokyo put us to shame. For example a chain store called Choco Cro, produces some amazing croissant buttery and flakey, cooked perfectly. For a chain store to maintain that level of quality is astounding especially since my perception of chain food is McDonalds and other fast food that is horrible.
When I was living in Roppongi there are too major urban developments in walking distance, the now famous Roppongi Hills, and the up and coming Tokyo Midtown. Both contain excellent bakeries. In Roppongi Hills just outside the main complex near Hollywood Plaza on the main street is a bakery called Pompadour. This small shop produces a number of classical French breads as wells as some more imaginative japanese varieties. Japanese varieties include one of the best version of curry pan that i've tasted, another deep fried bread stuff with tarako, and some corn mayo bread. The last one may sound really strange, and believe me its not one of my favorite flavors of any bread, but this version is pretty good.
Chain restaurants can have good food too
Curry pan is a deep fried bread that is stuffed with Japanese curry
Classic Pastries done with precision
Some Chinese food
During a previous trip to Japan I had an opportunity to try some Chinese food in Yokohama. There I had some Dim Sum, by far one of my favorite styles of Chinese cuisine. There was hope for great things, the proximity to China made me believe that this was going to be close to authentic Chinese food, at least better than what I could get in the states, sadly I was wrong. The food that time was more or less strange. I got a sense that I was Japanese-Chinese food, which to me means food that is Chinese in origin, but uniquely tailored for the Japanese pallet. At that time I had assumed that all Chinese food was going to taste like that, so I can now happily report that it does not.
I went to a Chinese restaurant that is located in the modern Roppongi Hills. The hills is one of the largest private urban development projects in Tokyo and is geared towards an upscale clientele. Since I was there for lunch they had a set menu which included four different kinds of Dim Sum along with rice and your choice of meat, I decided on roast duck. The four dumplings that were included were included were a deep fried mochi with meat filling, a Shanghai style soup dumpling, and two kinds of shrimp dumpling.
The deep fried dumpling was one of my favorites of the meal. I have only just tried this kind of dumpling a few months ago in San Francisco, and this version is levels ahead of that one. The filling was slightly sweet, and contained a mixture of ground pork, chopped shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms. The outside was crispy and not oily at all while the mochi was soft and slightly chewy.
Second was the Shanghai soup dumpling. I had some high expectations of this one. In San Francisco, Yank Sing, the dim sum place I frequent has this type of dumpling as one of its specialities, so I was hoping for something better out of this one. I'm saddened to say that one was not that good. For one it lacked a soup component, or more specifically there wasn't enough soup. When I think of a soup dumpling I think of it like a hot meat slurpy. The soup is mixed in with the meat filling to give it a chunky, yet drinkable texture. The filling itself was bland as well. There was a slight hint of pork, but completely lacked seasoning. It ended up being a bland slightly juicy dumpling that was forgettable.
Next up were the two shrimp dumplings. The first was a typical one with a rice flower skin, the second had a rice flower skin as well, but it was also mixed with either maccha or green onions to give a green appearance. The regular one was not interesting. The filling was completely made into a paste so there was no chunks of shrimp in it. The flavor as well lacked something that would make me feel like it's a real shrimp dumpling. The green one however, was quite tasty. It was not as good as deep fried one but it was better than the other two. The filling was also different from the first shrimp dumpling. There were larger shrimp chunks and this one also included some green onions that punched up the flavor.
The main dish was the rice and roasted duck. Roast duck is one of my favorite chinese dishes and the one they do here is done right. It reminds me of the kind of duck that is used of Peking Duck, but better. There were no bones and the meat with incredibly rich. There was layers of fat that made that flavor of the duck spread throughout ones mouth and melting away. The sauce that came with it was also good and mixed well with the rice that was sitting underneath. The only complaint that I could make for this dish was there wasn't enough duck.
Final Rating:
Fried Dumpling: 10/10
Good flavor, these were the best dumplings out of the bunch.
Soup Dumpling: 4/10
Thoroughly disappointed, lacking soup, and flavor.
Green Shrimp Dumpling 8/10
Didn't get a a taste of what was they put in the green skin, but the filling was good.
White Shrimp Dumpling 5/10
A mediocre effort no big pieces of shrimp, lacked a flavor that usually makes these dumplings taste so good.
Roasted Duck: 10/10
The that duck was great no complaints.
Overall: 8.5/10
There were some highs, but there were also some lows. I am mixed giving it this rating on one hand The dishes that I liked, I loved. The dishes that I disliked weren't too bad, but I would never eat them again given a choice.
Wait Gucci Makes Food?
To many in the west, Gucci, is a luxury clothing outfit, it produces sought after shoes, bags, clothing, and accessories. However, did you know that they also make chocolate and have food operations? Located at the Gucci building in Ginza, is one of only two Gucci cafes in existence, the other being in Gucci's flagship store in Milan. Dressed in a color pallet the matches their stores, and sculpted in a minimalist contemporary style, the cafe exudes the feeling of luxury.
The cafe serves mostly desserts and some lighter fare. I had the seasonal tart, which had a topping of grapefruit, and was served with a honey sorbet. The plating was very elegant, yet still simple. The tart itself was fantastic. At first one would think that grapefruit would be too tart to have as the only fruit on the dish, but these were not that tart at all. The crust was perfect it had enough structure to hold everything in place, but was soft enough to cut with a fork without much effort. Below the fruit was a cream base that give the grapefruit that additional sweetness to offset the minor tartness of it.
The honey sorbet was magical, and has now replaced vanilla as a basic flavor that I enjoy. It was the perfect balance of a vanilla flavor with just a hint of honey in it. While eating it the first sensation is that of vanilla and as you swallow the honey flavor spread though the mouth.
Final Rating: 10/10
This was the perfect dessert. Everything was perfectly executed, the taste was just the way it should be.
Lunch in Ginza
Had lunch in Ginza today at Fujiya Restaurant inside the Fujiya building. Although we were in ritzy Ginza, the food that was served was closer to a family restaurant than anything else. Family restaurants are a class of restaurants where service isn't the same as a regular restaurant where you pay at the table, rather you go and pay at the front. Also the menu is usually always western in scope, which is another defining element.
I ended up ordering an omelet rice, which consists of a catsup style fried rice covered in a plain egg omelet with a little bit demi glace on top. The dish also came with a side of beef stew. The omurice it self was okay, rice lacked flavor and richness. The egg was well prepared and the sauce on top matched well with the flavors of the rice.
I ended up enjoying the beef stew more. The sauce that was in it was very rich and had a great depth of flavor. It contained some gnocchi or potato dumplings, carrots, broccoli, and beef. The vegetables were cooked perfectly and the beef was melt in your mouth tender. The bland starchy gnocchi complemented the rich sauce and give it balance.
For a drink I had a chocolate frappe type drink. I'm not sure exactly what was in it, but I believe it was blended with some kind of nuts or coca nibs. It was topped with an chocolate ice cream, and some whipped cream. The whip cream was extremely dense. The consistency was almost like custard, but it had a great mouth feel. The ice cream was very creamy too, it was soft, but not like a gelato. The actual drink itself on first taste seemed like it had bananas in it, but I could not confirm. Attempting it drink it was also a challenge, it was thick, which made it difficult to drink with a straw.
Final Rating: 8/10
Most of the food was good, the filling in the omurice was the only stumbling block. I feel like the version I make tastes better. Other than that it was a good meal.
Dinner in Shibuya
In the evening the rain finally let up and I headed to Shibuya to check out the sights, and of course get something to eat. I met up with a friend and we ended up going to a place we've been before. The cuisine of the restaurant was Japanese, and was great to have a nice hot meal. I started off with a glass of apple juice, which in japan is more like an apple flavored soft drink. For dinner I got a fry place with half a tonkatsu, kani cream croquette, and two pieces of friend shrimp. It also came with rice, miso soup, and some braised root vegetables. I added an onsen tamago along with it.
The miso soup was good, though it could have used a little bit more salt. The veggies were alright as well. I was a little disappointed with the onsen tamago though, the center had coagulated and it was not runny at all. However, the flavor was there, it was served with a little sauce which I am guessing is composed a little dashi and soy sauce. On the entree the fried foods all had been fried and breaded nicely. Although for the shrimp the batter was a bit too thick for my taste which resulted in less shrimp. The kani cream croquette was a little bland, I could mostly taste the cream sauce, but very little crab. The tonkatsu was by far my favorite. It was moist and tender and tasted great with the sauce.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
The food was good. Though some items could have been better.
Lori’s Diner at SFO review
I decided to have a last taste of home before I left, so I went to Lori's Diner. SFO international terminal is a great looking building. Large air concourse makes the building feel larger than it really is. One minor gripe I have is that there should be more power outlets available, but I think this is the case for all airports I've visited. It is a symmetrical setup with a small food court at either end. The food court is comprised of real restaurants that exist in San Francisco. Lori's is located at the north food court, close to the BART station.
For anyone whose been to Lori's in the city this is pretty much the exact same thing. I do believe that the menu is a lot smaller. The big plus is that they serve a good old fashion breakfast. I ordered the two eggs any style with over easy eggs, sausage, hash browns, and sourdough toast. I usually choose over easy eggs over sunny side up at these kind of places because the short order cooks usually don't cook sunny side long enough and you end up with a lot of raw egg whites, but I digress.
The breakfast was decent nothing spectacular, but not horrible either. Everything felt a little under cooked, or should I say cooked to the minimum level. There was little to no browning on the hash browns so they were soft and mushy. There was the same problem with the toast. It was slightly toasty, but lacked the little crunch that I usually like. The sausage was kind of bland, and uninteresting. It lacked fat and a good natural casing. The eggs were pretty much the only thing that I thought was cooked well.
Below is a photo of what the food looked like.
Who doesn’t love meat on a stick?
Now for something slightly different. Recently I have been showing off dishes I have been cooking at home recently, and although that all fun and good I originally created this site to talk about restaurants and food that I have eaten. Theres been a lot of food and less of the restaurants. Usually I forget to take pictures, and recently due to the recent news in the economy I have been trying to conserve money, which means fewer restaurants.
Today though, I thought I would talk about a restaurant that I think is one of those hidden gems in San Francisco. It's a place I found in August, and up until October I would visit at least every week. It's a Japanese place, that feels very Japanese. I'm not talking about the touristy kind of atmosphere that one sees in Japantown, or some of the other Japanese restaurants anywhere in the country, the Benihana look. Its the kind of place that makes me feel like I'm back in Tokyo, slightly cramped, but cozy, filled with the personality of the owners. A place that stays true to its own style of Japanese food, and hasn't fallen to the urge to conform to what Americans think Japanese food is. When you eat hear it makes you feel good. The place I'm talking about is called Halu.
Located on 8th ave, and Celment. It is in a diverse neighborhood with many different cuisines. Halu is unlike the typical Japanese place one would eat it, for one it doesn't serve sushi. This is one of the biggest pet peeves I have about Japanese restaurants here, but that deserves another post all its own. So you maybe asking yourself if this place doesn't serve sushi what does it serve? Good question and for those who have never herd of prepare to fall in love. What they serve here is yakitori (grilled meat on a stick) and kushi katsu (deep fried meat on a stick). For people who have had kebabs this is very similar to that although much smaller sizes. They do server other foods here like ramen, but their speciallity is yakitori. If you want ramen go to someplace that specializes in it like tampopo, or katanaya, or even genki ramen. Come to Halu for delicious grilled meats.
Their menu of various yakitori is impressive. Usually one would only see chicken with green onions if any Japanese restaurant carried it, but Halu has over 20 different items (i am going by memory on this so i could be wrong). I haven't seen this many items on a yakitori menu since I was in Japan. There are several different parts of the chicken available; thighs, wings, gizzards, hearts, liver. One thing that is sadly missing on that is kawa, or chicken skin (perhaps the most delicious yakitori ever invented). There are different pork, beef, seafood, and veggie varieties available too. There is an option of either a special sweet sauce they coat the items in, or no sauce but a little bit of salt. Both options are very tasty, but I personally prefer the sauce. It brings me back to the taste I had in Japan. Another important point is that they use a yakitori grill, which is specially designed maximum cooking of the meat and no cooking of the skewer. This lends to the unique taste of yakitori.
Although the menu for kushi katsu is slightly smaller, it is by no means an indication of quality. Kushi katsu has a similar coating to another Japanese staple tonkatsu. The katsu here is served with a katsu sauce and an aioli. One of my favorite items they have is a stuffed mushroom. Although its kind of like a time bomb of super hot mushroomly goodness.
One of the best parts of coming here is doing it with a group of friends. Since the yakitori and kushi katsu is made for lots of people. The beer and the other alcoholic drinks here are pretty cheap running at around $4.50 per drink. Here's a tip skip the beer and sake first and go for the shochu drinks you'll be in for a surprise. They are made with an alcohol similar in vodka in strength and composistion, but it is very smooth and its very hard to taste it how they mixed it.
I know I have made a lot of compairisons to Japan when I talk about this place, but is the only other reference that is close, its that good. Although I don't think this place would stand up in a place like Tokyo, where you can get yakitori anywhere near a subway station that just as good, or in many cases better, it is orders of magnitude better then any place available in San Francisco. I am happy that they have chosen not to put sushi on the menu, which I think would ruin the whole appeal of this place. There are perhaps a handful restaurants in San Francisco that can claim the same thing. I was really conflicted with writing this post, I love this place dearly, and want to see it prosper, but I also don't to wait for a table. If this place get really popular and I have a feeling it will, its going to be difficult to get a spot here. With that aside I think everyone who has only had sushi, or those who have been to Japan, or are from there and want a taste of home, a break from the bad Japanes food, or an amazing new experince, Halu is the place for you.
A little Korean, a little soul, an intresting run-in, and a little note on wine.
Recently I had a chance to goto two excellent restaurants in San Francisco. No I'm not talking about Aqua, or Fleur De Lys, although I would love to go to them if I had the chance. I'm talking about some good soul food, and Korean BBQ. No, these places aren't the fine dining establishments I usually talk about, but they are great places to get some down home cooking at decent prices.
The first place I went to was the Hard Knox Cafe. I first herd about this place from a PBS show called Check Please! Bay Area a little over a year ago, and it got me really interested to try out this place. It has taken a long time to actually get down to try it out though. One of the first problems is that the place is located around 23rd st. and Third, which is located in the Bay View district which is one of those places I never go unless I really have to. Another reason is that its just a pain to get out there until recently, now the new MUNI T-Line runs next to it so its a easy half block walk from two different stations. Hard Knox features a soul food menu which has a great selection of classic soul food items like fried chicken, collard greens, black eye peas. The menu is simple you can choose from 13 different entrees which comes with your choice of two of the 12 different sides, or you can choose a sandwich with one side. All dishes are $10 and under which is a nice plus when your looking for some cheap eats that will really fill you up. I was able to try the ox tails, blacken catfish, yams, mashed potatoes, rice and gravy, and potato salad. The ox tails and blacken catfish were both prepared nicely, the tails were very tender and were falling off the bone, a good sign that they have been cooked for a sufficient amount of time. The catfish has a nice black color to it and the seasoning brought the fish to life with flavor. The sides were also good, although I think the yams were a bit too watery. The potato salad was simply amazing, it is some of the best I've ever had. So if any one is looking for some good soul food hard knox is a place to try.
The next place I was recommended to me by one of my friends. As some of you may know, I really like eating niku, especially when it comes in the form of yakiniku. There are two main types of yakiniku that I like more then others, Japanese style and Korean style. Sadly there are very few places in San Francisco that do yakiniku anywhere remotely right, that is to say they allow you to grill your own meat. Even worse there is only one Japanese style yakiniku place in San Francisco, Juban. Although this place is decent, it is no match for true Japanese yakiniku from Japan. Then there is Korean yakiniku, there are more of these restaurants around, but quality can be so so. Seoul Garden in Japantown has been the place I normally go when I'm looking for some yakiniku. However, now that I have been told about this other place I think I can safely say I'll never eat there again. The place in question is called Brothers restaurant, a hole in the wall, smoke filled wonderland of delectable meats. This is also the only place I know of in all the bay area where you grill the meat with charcoal. I know what some people might think that there is no difference between charcoal and gas, and I would have to say you would be wrong. Charcoal gives meat a smokier taste that I like, and I feel that its a little more gentle then the constant temperature of gas. They have a good selection of sides that go with a plate of meat, and the prices are comparable to those at Seoul Garden. Another great thing about this place is they give you free dishes, something I haven't seen done anywhere else. Another great plus about this place is that its open till 2am so its a great place to get a late night dinner.
This brings me to that interesting run-in we had. We were at Brothers having a late dinner that started around 10:30pm. We were chowing down waiting for some one else to arrive. The restaurant was completely empty and then a group of Japanese guys walked in. I didn't really think much of it at the time. Later on I notice that some of my friends were getting pretty excited about something so I asked them whats up. Apparently one of the Japanese guys that was eating was Daisuke Matsuzaka the new Japanese pitching sensation from the Boston Red Soxs. This was quite a surprise, I have met other famous people in San Francisco, but they were all living in or around the city. This was the first time I had seen a famous person that wasn't from around here. It was quite a surprise indeed especially since we were originally going to go to Seoul Garden, glad we didn't.
Wine has been on my mind a lot lately, and I have been really considering picking up a few cases of 2005 Bordeaux futures because its building up to be one of the greatest vintages, even better then 1982. I have found a site really helpful for me in exploring new and different wines that I would have never really considered or herd of. http://tv.winelibrary.com/
